48670 research outputs found
Sort by
Politics and Prosthetics: 150 Years of Disability in Japan
No full textIn this dissertation, I argue that attempts by activists and policy makers to improve access to Japan’s built environment, education, employment, entertainment, and welfare systems for disabled populations over the last one hundred and fifty years have not always helped impaired individuals and frequently excluded as many demographics as they empowered. To identify which groups of people have been privileged with access and why, I analyze government records, news reports, and documents from advocacy organizations using approaches from history, anthropology, sociology, political science, and media studies. My evidence suggests that economic pressures tied to processes such as industrialization, democratization, and ageing have played a key role in shaping the politics of accessibility in modern Japan, as they have led architects, engineers, educators, and other stakeholders to focus on the needs of individuals with diverse impairments at different points in time. Equally influential have been international flows of information, materials, and people in the disability welfare sphere, which have pushed politicians to pursue domestic reforms. My project demonstrates why scholars of Japan must explore technologies created by and for disabled people to fully appreciate numerous aspects of the country’s culture, ranging from military actions and modes of governance to marketplace and material innovations. It also explains why academics interested in social justice issues in places like the United States and Europe must strive to investigate the history and politics of disability in Japan. Why does Japan matter? Because Japan has the third largest economy and fastest ageing population in the world. Interested parties often export its assistive technologies overseas, and the nation’s access-making activities have served, and likely will continue to serve, as successful models to emulate and cautionary tales of what to avoid for other countries. A descriptive project with prescriptive implications, this dissertation uses history to shape policy by asking policy makers to consider who has a seat at the table, how they come to be there, and what they fail to imagine when making access measures. By unpacking the politics of access in Japan’s past and present, this project helps create an inclusive future
Differential Essential Dimension
No full textRoughly speaking, the essential dimension of an algebraic object is the minimum number of parameters needed to specify the object. It was first introduced by J. Buhler and Z. Reichstein where it was used to bound the number of parameters that one may eliminate from a general polynomial by means of Tschirnhaus transformations. In this thesis we define an analogue of essential dimension in differential algebra. As application, we show that the number of parameters in a general homogeneous linear differential equation over a field cannot be reduced via gauge transformations over the given field. We also bound the number of parameters needed to describe certain generic Picard-Vessiot extensions
Kinesin-4 Motor Teams Effectively Navigate Dendritic Microtubule Arrays Via Track Switching and Regulation of Microtubule Dynamics
No full textThe organization of structurally polarized microtubules into networks is critical for efficient cargo transport mediated by the molecular motors dynein and kinesin. The motility properties of molecular motors are best understood in simplified reconstituted systems using single microtubule filaments, as well as in cells with radial microtubule arrangements and axonal compartments with uniformly oriented microtubule arrays. However, it is not understood how active transport occurs in environments with more complicated cytoskeletal geometries, such as the mixed polarity microtubule arrays found in the dendrites of neurons. Here we focus on the plus-end directed kinesin-4 KIF21B motor that is associated with retrograde biased cargo movement in dendrites, despite the mixed polarity microtubule organization. How KIF21B achieves this net directional bias, as well as whether KIF21B is primarily responsible for retrograde directed motility is not known. To understand this, we examined KIF21B motility on mixed polarity microtubule arrays within in vitro systems of increasing complexity and in live neurons. In reconstituted systems with recombinant KIF21B and engineered dynamic antiparallel microtubule bundles or extracted mixed polarity dendritic microtubule arrays, the nucleotide-independent microtubule binding regions of KIF21B were shown to modulate microtubule dynamics and promote directional track switching. For analysis of KIF21B motility, existing methods to automate motor tracking were not ideal, and we developed a segmentation tool called Cega, to detect purified fluorescently labeled kinesin motors moving within a system with high background noise. Interestingly, KIF21B motors did not display the net directional bias along stabilized extracted dendritic microtubule arrays, as seen by KIF21B in live cells. This in combination with the dramatic stabilization of microtubule dynamics by KIF21B suggested that directional bias required microtubule remodeling by KIF21B motors, and thus would only be observed along native dynamic microtubule arrays. Unsurprisingly, KIF21B optogenetic recruitment to dendritic cargo induced net retrograde movement, and both native microtubule dynamics and the secondary microtubule binding regions of KIF21B were required to achieve this directional bias. These results suggest a mechanism where teams of cargo bound KIF21B motors coordinate nucleotide-sensitive and insensitive microtubule binding sites to regulate microtubule stability and promote track switching and ultimately achieve net retrograde movement along the mixed polarity microtubule arrays of dendrites
Advanced Places - White Spaces: Supporting the Social Emotional Identities of Minoritized Populations in Predominantly White Advanced Programs
No full textIn schools throughout the United States the racial compositions of classrooms are undergoing a demographic shift consistent with national census data indicating increases in the numbers of racial minorities attending k -12 institutions. In schools however, historically marginalized populations remain significantly and disproportionately underrepresented within advanced academic environments. Research into the phenomenon of underrepresentation presents several limitations. First, a preponderance of the scholarship focuses exclusively on high school students, neglecting other grade bands. Secondly, a majority of the research narrowly examines statistical representations of underrepresented populations, in absence of other qualitative information. Third, a further gap exists in the scholarship around historically marginalized middle school students in advanced programs. This proposed dissertation seeks to understand the factors that attribute to underrepresentation among middle school students in predominantly white advanced environments. This qualitative phenomenological study seeks to document the experiences of historically marginalized middle school students participating in advanced programming and AVID, a teaching and learning program centered on academic and social/emotional support. Theories of Critical Race, adolescent racial and social identity development, and Relational Cultural Theory are evaluated to form a theoretical framework that examines the experiences of historically marginalized AVID students within predominantly white advanced programs. Qualitative methodologies involved interviews that sought to 1) privilege the experiences of students, 2) explore the complexities of adolescence and racial/ethnic identity development, 3) identify the extent to which the relational cultural framework (used within the AVID elective class) supports or fails to support historically marginalized students within advanced learning environments. Developing an understanding of prohibitive factors or positive assets in support of school achievement within the AVID program has the potential to inform practices and/or diminish barriers to student participation in advanced classes
Leveraging Neuroinflammation Responses to Treat Pain Using Micellar Formulations Informed by Secretory Phospholipase A2 Responses in Neuropathy
No full textDespite the high prevalence of chronic neuropathic pain, effective treatment strategies remain lacking. This is due to an incomplete understanding of the complex interactions of immune and neuronal mechanisms leading to the spinal neuronal hyperexcitability that establishes and maintains persistent pain states. Current neuropathic pain treatments like neuromodulatory drugs, which reduce neuronal hyperexcitability by non-specifically suppressing neuronal activity, require high repeated systemic dosing, that can lead to substantial off-target toxicity due to challenges with effective delivery. These obstacles underscore the need to identify improved mechanistic targets involved in neuropathic pain and platforms to deliver therapeutics that can localize delivery to the sites of nociceptive transmission. In addition to inciting inflammation, inflammatory mediators such as secreted phospholipase A2 (sPLA2), can directly regulate spinal glutamatergic signaling and hyperexcitability through its generation of lipid mediators. Although early increases in sPLA2 are implicated in several painful neuropathies, it is not known if, or where, sPLA2 may contribute to pain after nerve root injury. Studies in this thesis characterize sPLA2 expression after a painful neve root compression and use systemic and spinal sPLA2 inhibition to define its inflammatory and neuromodulatory roles in the initiation and maintenance of neuropathic pain. As hydrolytic enzymes, sPLA2 activity can also be leveraged to directly deliver and release encapsulated drugs from sPLA2-responsive phospholipid micelles to areas of nociception. Therefore, the feasibility and effectiveness of encapsulating sPLA2 inhibitors and the neuromodulatory drug MPEP, into sPLA2-responsive and polymeric micelles are also assessed after painful nerve root compression in order to evaluate if these delivery platforms improve therapeutic effectiveness. Both peripheral and spinal sPLA2 expression increases with pain after root compression and together appear to initiate neuropathic pain and neuronal hyperexcitability by enhancing spinal inflammation. Later after injury, spinal sPLA2 maintains neuropathic pain by exacerbating spinal glutamatergic neurotransmission. Utilizing both sPLA2-inhibitor loaded micelles and MPEP loaded increase the effectiveness of both therapeutics by localizing delivery and increasing circulation time in vivo. Collectively, studies in this thesis establish sPLA2 as a potential target for treating painful neuropathy and provide evidence of the effectiveness of micellar delivery platforms to improve the utility of pain therapeutics
Centromere Drive and Suppression by Parallel Pathways for Recruiting Microtubule Destabilizers
No full textSelfish centromere DNA sequences bias their transmission to the egg in female meiosis. Evolutionary theory suggests that centromere proteins evolve to suppress costs of this “centromere drive”. In hybrid mouse models with genetically different maternal and paternal centromeres, selfish centromere DNA exploits a kinetochore pathway to recruit microtubule- destabilizing proteins that act as drive effectors. We show that such functional differences are suppressed by a parallel pathway for effector recruitment by heterochromatin, which is similar between centromeres in this system. Disrupting the kinetochore pathway with a divergent allele of CENP-C reduces functional differences between centromeres, whereas disrupting heterochromatin by CENP-B deletion amplifies the differences. Molecular evolution analyses using newly sequenced Murinae genomes identify adaptive evolution in proteins in both pathways. We propose that centromere proteins have recurrently evolved to minimize the kinetochore pathway, which is exploited by selfish DNA, relative to the heterochromatin pathway that equalizes centromeres, while maintaining essential functions
Boothbay Harbor’s Wharfscape: Structures, Territory and Life at Water’s Edge
No full textIn midcoast Maine, harbor edge structures and surfaces of wood, metal, stone, plastic and rock were the results of public and private decisions that may be probed as wharfscape -- the totality of the visible wharf and its use, its relation to both the competitive and cooperative life of the town as infrastructure and symbol, fragile and always changing. Wharfscape, a geography of movement, enclosure and space, reflects community and individual will, and is shaped by opportunity, argument, negotiation, and nature
Teacher-Student Relationships in a Philadelphia High School
No full text“I would have stayed in school longer if my school had…better relationships between students and teachers,” is the number one answer of student respondents in a Youth United for Change (2011) study entitled, Pushed Out: Youth Voices on the Dropout Crisis in Philadelphia (p. 13). In the study, 45 percent of the 233 participants highlighted this reason for no longer attending their respective high schools. This statistic points to a critical situation in Philadelphia that we, as educators, must address. The purpose of this study was to focus on this concern by seeking out the perspectives of recent high school graduates. By asking former students about their experiences with teachers, a plethora of insights were gained on how to develop positive relationships. Also, this research, unlike previous studies, was not to examine the end results or outcomes of positive teacher-student relationships, but rather to investigate what these relationships looked and felt like in daily practice. Qualitative data was collected through 20 semi-structured interviews and observations. The participants were alumni from a small, urban high school in the School District of Philadelphia. Three key findings emerged from this study: (1) Positive teacher relationships matter and made a difference for students; (2) Feeling “cared-for” is the critical component in developing positive teacher-student relationships; and (3) There are many different approaches for teachers to build positive relationships with their students. This study contributes to the current bodies of literature related to teacher-student relationships. It also adds to the discussion of how educators can better address the socio-emotional side of their teaching practices
Protecting Suzhou: Study of the Conservation of Cultural Heritage in the Cities along China’s Grand Canal
Get PDFWith economic and social development, China has lifted its people out of poverty and is continuing to work hard on the road to a well-off society for all. In such a historical period, China is paying increasing attention to cultural construction while developing the economy. How to protect China’s cultural heritage and create economic and social benefits at the same time is a huge concern of the national government. Nowhere is the tension between China’s cultural preservation and economic development more apparent than at the country’s World Heritage List sites. The Grand Canal, known as the Jing- Hang Grand Canal (京杭大运河) in Chinese, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2014. Since then, the Grand Canal itself has been systematically protected; however, the heritage sites along the Grand Canal have been not only facing development opportunities, but also experiencing commercialization and uncontrolled tourism that threaten their significance and integrity. Taking Suzhou as an example, this research summarizes the current status of heritage protection for Grand Canals sites in Suzhou, China, in light of the successful promotion of the Grand Canal’s World Heritage designation in 2014. The research also develops recommendations that will help other cities and towns along the Grand Canal in China develop preservation and development plans better to balance the relationship between historic preservation and social development and promote the joint development of regional culture and economy. In addition, analysis and case studies are also conducted on the impact of COVID-19 on tourism and the further impact on historic preservation. This research will also put forward some suggestions for the preservation of cultural heritage along the Grand Canal in the post-pandemic era
Relationship Between Structure and Properties in Liquid-Quenched and Vapor-Deposited Organic Glasses
No full textGlasses are ubiquitous in our world, serving a wide array of purposes. An understanding of how to manipulate glass properties is essential to fully leveraging the usefulness of these materials. This requires an understanding of the relationship between chemical structure and properties, as well as investigation of the role of various methods of glass preparation beyond simple liquid quenching. A method that has gained recent attention is that of Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) which, under the proper set of conditions, can result in glass states which behave as though highly aged. In this dissertation I explore the behavior of both liquid quenched and PVD glasses prepared under a range of deposition temperatures. Chapter 1 introduces the glass transition phenomenon and explores some properties of glasses, including PVD glasses. Chapter 2 uses differential scanning calorimetry and spectroscopic ellipsometry to probe the effect of chemical structure on bulk glass properties, including glass transition temperature and fragility. Chapter 3 uses in-situ ellipsometry measurements during vapor deposition process to explore how density and other properties change over the course of a stable glass deposition, including the possibility of phase transitions. Chapter 4 develops a method for nanoindentation of stable glass films, accounting for surface detection error. Chapter 5 describes mechanical properties of two chemically similar organic glass formers using this method, and compares hardness and modulus with other properties which vary with deposition temperature. This study provides a window to the role of molecular conformation on stable glass formation. Chapter 6 further considers soft surfaces of stable PVD glasses, using nanoindentation and atomic force microscopy to investigate how surface properties vary with glass-former and deposition temperature